Language English Pages 160 Originally published 2003 Page count 160 Subjects Thomas Kuhn, Karl Popper | Series Revolutions in Science ISBN 978-0231134286 Country United States of America | |
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Media type Print (Hardcover and Paperback) Similar Steve Fuller books, Philosophy of science books | ||
Kuhn vs. Popper: The Struggle for the Soul of Science is a 2003 book by sociologist Steve Fuller, in which Fuller discusses and criticizes the philosophers of science Thomas Kuhn and Karl Popper. The book, published by Columbia University Press, received several negative reviews, but was also made Book of the Month by Popular Science magazine.
Contents
Summary
Fuller uses the 1965 meeting between Thomas Kuhn and Karl Popper, in which they discussed the philosophy of science, as a point of departure to discuss how their respective philosophies have been received by the media, the public, and scholars.
Reception
Academic Rupert Read called the book worthless, and wrote that it presented an over-simplified and distorted view of both Popper and Kuhn. The Economist wrote that the book was not thorough enough to be convincing. The mass circulation US magazine Popular Science made the book Book of the Month in February 2005. A UK-based website, also called 'Popular Science' but bearing no relation to the magazine, wrote that "Fuller rightly points out some of the flaws in both Popper and Kuhn's approach", but added that he wasted an opportunity to explain the philosophy of science in a way that ordinary readers would find useful.